Two for the Show
by Nocturne no Kitsune
Summary: With a recent lull in ghost activity after the Gauntlet incident, and Sam and Tucker away with their respective families, Danny has found himself somewhere where no teen should ever be - In the pits of absolute boredom. Until Ember makes a appearance...
1. Chapter 1

___Two for the Show_

**A Danny Phantom Twoshot by Nocturne no Kitsune and Co**

**Summery:**

**With a recent lull in ghost activity after the Gauntlet incident, and Sam and Tucker away with their respective families, Danny has found himself somewhere where no teen should ever be - In the pits of absolute boredom. But relief comes in strange forms and strange times, when in the middle of the night none other then his ghostly musical foe Ember makes a appearance in his room with a intriguing offer....**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Danny Phantom, and not any and all music in this Fic.**

Never before could a small pile of paper look so evil, yet so inviting. How in the world had she even known in the first place that he could possible do such a thing as what she wanted?

Danny glanced around the room, senses keen for a hidden observer or a camera but found nothing. He still would not put it past a few of his more clever enemies, perhaps Technus or Vlad. Skulker might, but he was more of a "Stalk and Kill" than a "Stalk and Tell" type of guy, like the others. Walker might, if the warden thought that the information could hurt him in some way. Ember herself just did not seem to be the type to sit still for any length of time to spy on someone. Then how in the world had she found out about _that?_

Danny glanced at his closet, trying to find a reason to blame it and for it to burst into flames. But after a moment he decided better, for all he knew a new ghost power might spring up and do just that and cost him some of his best clothes.

So he turned his attentions back to his desk, lit by his small lamp and the small pile of paper laying on the top and glared for a moment before taking time to look at the time on his digital clock.

2:31 AM

He had a feeling that he was going to lose a few more hours of sleep over this before he could figure it out; Ember's behavior and everything else included.

_.:Flashback:._

**A few hours earlier...**

_An innocent pencil spun upwards at a rapid pace, the tip almost pinning itself into the middle of a stick-on glow star that decorated the ceiling before falling back __down and into the hands of a bored looking raven-haired teenager. What he was doing up this late at night was most likely beyond reason, but the fact was that he was up._

_Danny twirled the pencil in-between his fingers for half a second, the colored piece of wood, graphite, metal, and rubber turning into a yellow blur at the high speeds his nimble fingers moved at before launching it back upwards towards the roof and watched it almost impale itself into a stick-on star before falling down again._

_This time though, he made no attempt to catch it and let it clatter to the top of his desk and just shouted. He would later be thankful that everyone else in the house was a heavy sleeper and that his parents had installed new soundproofing, what with their last experiment melting it right out of the walls._

"_Come on! Anyone, anything, I swear! Give me the Box Ghost even, just give me someone to fight or something to do!"_

_Danny stood panting, tense and twitching. Looking over at his digital clock he saw the time and swore that he would kill something if a ghost or two did not rear their heads soon. It was ten past one and he was still up, too tense to sleep and with nothing to do. The last week had been murder on him without Sam or Tucker to hang out with, and Mom and Dad had been spending almost all day each day out working on some private projects in the city._

_That meant he could not blow off steam working in the lab, or much else to do. Hanging out with Val or just messing around Amity Park was no option either. Val was gone with her father just like Sam and Tucker were gone with their parents on short family trips to enjoy the summer, and Dash and his gang were hanging around the city and seemed to be everywhere._

_Danny could not begrudge them either, not after the whole incident with Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet. Sam and Tucker had really risked it with him during that, so the both of them just wanting to get away for awhile was nothing selfish, and Val and her Dad rarely got the chance to enjoy themselves with all the work they both had. But it left him with no one to hang with and nothing to do, and for a whole week this had been the ordeal, and now Danny was all but for going into the Ghost Zone himself to pick a fight since all the ghosts had also called it quits for the summer apparently._

_So here he was, all the energy in the world and nothing to do with it but stew, and now Danny was at a breaking point. He needed something to do, a miracle, and NOW!_

_Little did Danny know that miracles work in strange and often frightening ways, but they do work. His felt the chill of his ghost sense work its way up from the __middle of his chest and out his mouth in a wisp of blue mist, just in time for a familiar melodious, yet obnoxious, voice to make itself known from behind him in the direction of his bed._

"_Hey Dipstick, what's with the screaming? Never figured you to be one of those bottle-it-up folks. You really should be seeing someone about that, before you give yourself a heart attack. We have enough dipsticks in the Ghost Zone without you moving in on a permanent basis."_

_Danny whirled around, and found himself face to face with none other than the self-declared pop princess of the Ghost Zone, Ember McLain, laying on _his _bed of all things and looking completely at home. Not that Danny cared, all he cared about at the moment was that his prayers were answered and he now had something to do, in the form of beating Ember down. Half a second after he had finalized his thoughts, he spent the next half lunging through the air in ghost mode at Ember with nothing but hostile intent, only to be met with an unexpectedly solid and admittedly painful obstacle._

**Ka-THUNK!**

_Ember looked down at the sight of Danny's face becoming intimate with the floor after the ghost boy's head had become intimate with the side of her guitar and resisted the urge to grin. Not that it stopped her from rubbing it in, but she stopped short of gloating. Gloating would just defeat the purpose of her coming here._

"_Nice try Dipstick, except for the part with you and my guitar."_

_Danny just growled and rubbed the sore spot on the back of his skull as he pulled himself off the floor and eyed the flaming haired ghost girl on his bed. She was lucky she had that guitar of hers in hand and ready to swing or else he would not even bother with responding._

"_What do you want Ember? Most ghosts don't bother me in my own house, much less my room. So either get gone or get out, unless you're here to fight. If that's the case, then please, do stay. I have a friend I would like to introduce you to; I believe you've already met? You know them as 'Misplaced Aggression', ring any bells maybe? I'm sure you remember the both of you hitting it off rather well last time you met, or maybe it was just the hitting part."_

_This was followed with Danny coyly grinning, remembering that particular encounter with Ember somewhat fondly for the thrashing he had given her after her spell over him had been broken._

_Ember's smirk just grew wider, seeming to ignore Danny's veiled, albeit poorly, threat._

"_Nothing much Dipstick, and I'm not leaving. Not before I get what I want, andit's not a fight. Believe it or not, I am here for entirely peaceful reasons."_

_Danny just stared for a moment, before his senses kicked in and his eyes narrowed dangerously as he stood up and looked Ember in the eyes._

"_And that is as believable as the last few times you've been around. So what do you want Ember, if it's so peaceful?"_

_Danny was forced to jump backwards and almost right into his desk as Ember leaped up from his bed and into a standing position, and shoved something into his hands._

"_Simple. I want you to help me put on a concert in the next few days in the park, nothing evil or mind controlling, just a normal concert. That's the song right there, I suggest that you get familiar with it."_

_Danny just stared at Ember, before he looked down at the sheets of paper that she had shoved in his hands. Looking at the first sheet, he could make out the name of the song, which honestly surprised him. He had expected it to be her trademark hit single, "RemEmber", but instead the title heading read "Ghost Town"._

_Danny looked back up at Ember, disbelief and distrust written all over his face and in his voice as well._

"_What the heck? How do you even plan for me to help you? I don't even play an instrument! Much less know how to play in a band for your information."_

_Ember just smiled right back, an evil and knowing gleam in her glowing eyes._

"_Oh really now Dipstick, is that so? Well I happen to know differently, and I think this proves my point."_

_Before Danny could react, Ember turned around and reached through his closet door and into its depths. When her hand came back out, it came out clutching his secret passion in its cold grasp. A gleaming black, white, and green electric guitar styled in the same style as his Danny Phantom outfit was held in her hand, and with careless abandon the ghostly pop star fingered a couple of the strings and let a few perfectly tuned notes out into the room._

_Danny just glared, while Ember just kept her evil grin up._

"_You got good taste Dipstick, and I can see you take care of it. Now just give it up and admit it, and help me with the concert."_

_Danny on the other hand was both furious and curious, as to how anyone found out at all that he liked to play the guitar. No one outside his parents even knew he had it, not even Sam and Tucker. Not even Jazz knew he had it, or even played anything on it._

"_How the heck did you know about that?! Have you been spying on me or something?!"_

_Ember's grin dropped and she raised her hands in a defensive way._

"_Hell no Dipstick, not even I'm that off kilter to stalk you that closely. I just asked around a little and came across a very knowledgeable ghost, who happened to inform me that you happened to have a musical past time. Anyways, I need another guitarist, mine went and ditched me, and you're the only person I can find that can replace 'em. Besides, it's not like you have much else to do right?"_

_Danny opened his mouth to respond, and then shut it when he could not come up with a response. He tried a few more times, but in the end came to a conclusion and crossed his arms grumpily._

"_So what if I don't? I'm pretty sure I can find something better to do till I have to crash your concert, and whatever half-baked musical scheme you have planned."_

_Ember shrugged and laid his guitar down in his bed while she strapped her own onto her back, and turned back to Danny with a plain expression on her pale face._

"_If you say so Dipstick, but I am telling the truth. It's just an honest concert, and I need a guitarist or else I won't be able to put on the show. Even I take a break from the world domination thing now and then, and it's more of a thing to stop from getting bored then anything serious."_

_Danny just looked at her, trying to figure out if she was telling the truth or not. Despite her various plots, Ember never really came off as a particularly vicious ghost, or one that was really evil. He barely even saw her around to tell himself the truth; she was one of his more rare opponents. Sighing, Danny caved, if only a little._

"_Alright, pretend I believe you, just for a moment."_

_Ember smiled._

"_Then you will need this, it's the address to where my band is practicing. It's Thursday today, and the show's on Sunday. If you decide to join in, head there. It's a studio apartment I rented while I'm here in Amity, and it's perfect. Be there __later today, and try to get some sleep. No use if you're dead on your feet, and I'd rather not be the one to blame for you making a permanent addition to the Ghost Zone if you do something stupid on your way there. Catch ya later Dipstick, and try not to be late."_

_Ember tossed a piece of paper at Danny, before taking off through the roof._

_Danny himself just ran his hand through his snow-white hair and checked out the address, noting that it was down in the more expensive part of town._

"_What the heck have I gotten into this time? I swear I can hear Sam chewing me out already and Tucker making some lame joke, if that's even possible."_

_Danny sighed and pinned the address to the wall above his desk, and transformed back to his human self before sitting down to contemplate the music left behind and Ember's intentions._

_.:Flashback end:._

Danny sighed, and noticed he had been doing that a lot lately. Almost as much as Ember seemed to have been smiling, but then again he might have just been imagining it. Pushing his chair back he stood up and left the music to tomorrow.

If he decided that he was desperate enough for something to do to agree to Ember's offer, then he would need some sleep before he would be able to make any sense of it, much less make it downtown alive like the ghost singer had mentioned. Some people like Vlad might think he was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was smart enough to know that trying to walk around high-speed traffic and the crowded sidewalks of the inner city was suicide while half awake, and falling asleep while flying would end up the same way since whenever he lost consciousness he turned back to normal.

He lifted his guitar, and after checking to make sure that Ember didn't mess with any of the tuning pegs or settings and strummed a few notes, he put it back away in the depths of his closet where he was pretty sure no one _else_ knew where it was. After that it was just a matter of hitting the switch for the desk lamp with a low-power ecto-beam to kill the lights.

Laying in darkness, and just before he closed his eyes, Danny took one last look at his digital clock.

3:04 AM.

Maybe he could get some decent sleep if he tried really hard. Maybe.

.:**TIMESKIP:.**

**LATER THAT DAY**

Tightly drawn blinds blocked out most of the persistent sun, and painted bright lines across the shadowy yet messy floor and cast a glow of twilight everywhere else and across the sleeping form still in bed. A nearby digital clock glowed even more brightly, its neon-red numbers a beacon in the room.

11:44 AM

The room itself was quite, not a sound could be heard from within or without, except for the soft breathing, half snore, and groan that came from the bed.

The digital clock beeped.

11:45 AM

A second beep, and the alarm started up. Thankfully, this was one of those clocks that had the option of setting two types of alarms. The first being that annoying loud kind that forced you up and out of bed in a generally bad mood, or the second being the radio station of your choice that lulled you out of bed over the course of five-to-ten minutes.

Of course, Danny being Danny and being a tired Danny at that, had thought ahead and set the clock to the second option. So instead of being forced out of bed by a obnoxious racket and perhaps expending his energy vaporizing the clock (no matter how much it was worth the energy), he awakened slowly to a radio station playing a strangely familiar song, sung by a strangely familiar voice, and accompanied by a strangely familiar guitar.

_Yeah_

_Ohh-ooohh_

_It was,_

_It was September_

_Wind blows_

_The dead leaves fall_

_To you_

_I did surrender_

_Two weeks_

_You didn't call_

Danny groggily tried to identify the song and singer. He could swear he had heard it before, but for the life of him could not remember who or where. But he had to admit to himself, the song was good and whoever was singing had talent.

_Your life goes on_

_Without me,_

_My life_

_A losing game_

_But you should_

_You should not doubt me_

_You will remember my_

_Name_

_Oh_

_Ember_

_You will remember_

_Ember_

_One thing remains_

_Oh_

_Ember_

_So warm and tender_

_You will remember my_

_Name_

Through his still sleep clouded mind, Danny tried to place the name Ember. He could swear up and down that he knew it and it was important in someway or another, but nothing came to him. So he just groaned, rolled onto his back, and decided to listen to more of the song before he strained his mind. But whoever this Ember lady was, she was a really good. He could almost feel the emotion in the song, and her voice had this almost otherworldly tone to it.

_Your heart_

_Your heart abandoned_

_You're wrong_

_Now bear the shame_

_Like dead trees in_

_Cold December_

_Nothing but ashes_

_Remain_

_Oh_

_Ember_

_You will remember_

_Ember_

_One thing remains_

_Oh_

_Ember_

_So warm and tender_

_You will remember my_

_Name_

_Oh-woo-oh-woo_

_Ember_

_You will remember_

_Ember_

_One thing remains_

_Ember_

_So warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_Yeah_

_You will remember my name_

Just as the song ended, it hit him. Ember. As in Ember McLain. As in the _ghost_ Ember McLain. As in the _evil _ghost Ember McLain. Danny jumped up from his bed, suddenly remembering what had happened last night. Glancing over at his desk, he saw the sheets of music and piece of paper with the address that proved it.

He had been hoping that it had been a rather weird dream, and that his prayers would be answered in the form of the Box Ghost or any other ghost popping up for a convenient thrashing, normally started with a good bout of witty banter all around. But apparently it was not to be, and he ran a hand through his raven hair while he thought to himself.

"_God, do I miss it that much? Barely a week without ghost fighting and I'm going nuts! I even miss the witty banter, but then again… gah! Enough! I got to figure things out for today, like if I am going to finish considering to go to Ember's place or not and join in for her practice. Chances are it's a trap, and if not then there is always the question on the other hand. How the heck did Ember rent a studio apartment, much less anything at all? Don't you have to be alive for that?"_

Danny shook his head to clear it.

"_Better to just not think about it, and ask about it when I get the chance. Or if I get the chance, that's what I mean."_

Figuring that now was a better time then any to really look it over, Danny grabbed his guitar from the closet and sat down at his desk to run through the song a little and figure it out before he went down stairs for breakfast.

With his first look at it, Danny had every belief that Ember had added all the little color codings and notes for the sake of throwing him off. But after Danny took a closer look, he smiled at just how _easy_ she had made it instead. The notes were for the sake of telling him little facets of the song and band members that he would not have known, and the color codings and highlighted parts where he would have to change to certain notes and chords.

To tell the truth, this was almost how he organized the songs that _he_ practiced and he was a bit surprised that Ember followed the same style. He would have to talk to Ember about it if he did go, but for now it was practice time and then he would grab breakfast and make his choice.

Or that was the plan till Danny looked at his ever-trusty digital clock.

11:55 AM

Okay, perhaps make that a brunch. And looking over his mental plan for the day, Danny came to realize again that Ember had been right. He did have nothing better to do.

"_Alright, Mom and Dad are out again on whatever private projects they have been doing on commission to the city, and Jazz is out of town with her friends. Chores are all done and the ghost portal is locked down tight, not that it's stopped them before. Sam and Tucker are still not due back for another week, and Val is gone for another two. Even Vlad apparently has something better to do, since no one has seen hide or hair of him forever. Dash and his merry band of idiots are probably out spreading their special brand of jock summer time fun to anyone they can catch again, so just hanging out around town is a bad idea."_

Danny snorted and leaned back, the chair balancing on two legs while his guitar was held snug to his chest.

"_And even the ghosts are on vakay, I have not seen a single one of them since the fight with Freakshow. Not even the Box Ghost has shown up to try and destroy me with his special brand of 'corrugated cardboard vengeance!' and even my more respectable enemies have been laying low. Skulker is apparently skulking around somewhere with no intention of coming to collect on my pelt anytime soon, and Technus has been blissfully quite. Ember is the only real ghost that has bothered to show herself, and even she just seems to be enjoying summer vacation."_

So this was how Danny decided what to do. After grabbing a quick brunch, he ran back up to his room to grab his stuff and write his parents a note incase they came home early or something. Last thing he wanted was to end up grounded during summer vacation, and ditching when Ember apparently was expecting him as not a good idea. Ghost girls and human girls had that same thing in common that if you left them hanging they tended to get upset.

Sometimes Danny hated being such a good guy; Ember knew that he would not be able to resist a chance to escape his boredom, and that his hero-streak would never let him rest knowing that Ember was out and about and doing who knew what. At the very least, he could keep an eye out on her to see if she was really telling the truth about this being an honest show.

As he hoisted his guitar case over his shoulder and made his way through the kitchen, he slapped his note telling his parents he would be out for the day as well, just in case they came home early or to pick something up from the lab.

The lab...

That was right, he had almost forgot. Danny dashed down the stairs, and into the stainless steel of the lab. Ignoring the half-finished inventions and items under repair, and avoiding the Fenton Ghost catcher like the plague, Danny grabbed a Fenton thermos and a pair of Fenton phones. Better safe then sorry, and hanging around while Ember played her guitar with no protection was a bad idea. Last thing he needed was a free zombification courtesy of Ember's music.

Happy that he had everything he would need, from guitar to assorted Fenton gadgets, Danny locked up the house and started walking. He could fly, but he figured that it would just be easier to walk. That way he could at least find the building he was looking for without attracting attention.

Danny just hoped, for the weirdest reasons, that Ember was telling the truth. He needed something to do, and this was the only thing to rear its head. If not, then there was always an enjoyable fight with Ember to look forward too.

**AN:****All right, that's it for the first chapter of this little side project. If you happen to read my other fanfics and have been wondering where I've been, well I was moving. Now I live up on the side of a mountain in a little city that you don't need to know about. Anyways, to those that are wondering when MBSTS and TFA:TS are going to update, the answer is soon.**

**Signing out, Nocturne No Kitsune, Insanity at Large**


	2. AN: NOT BAD NEWS!

_**A/N**_

**Now, before you few and far between of my Readers have a Heart Attack, this is not Bad news. I am not Dumping Stories or leaving for the supposed greener grass on the other side of the bridge. I am not caught up in life in general, and can no longer update. I am merely a Slow Writer. To those that like my stories and wish me to update, I am. But you have to remember, I am only Human and I have alot of stuff on my plate to get through. **

**For those of you waiting on MBSTS, let it be known that after intensive Discussion with my peers that I am going to be reworking the story. This just means its due for another Rewrite, and I will not be releasing the next chapter till I have gone through all the other ones and made them slightly less Shitty.**

**For those waiting on _Two for the Show_, I am writing the next chapter between working on the Rewritten Chapters of MBSTS. There will be plenty for you to chew on, just be patient. Good things come to those that wait/**

**For _Titan's Servant_ and _Viral Innocence_, these are Back Burner Projects that I will update, but they will be updated lastly among my works.**

**So please, keep in mind I am not a Literary Machine that exists as a Faceless Soulless entity on the web, simply writing for you viewing pleasure. Give me time, and I will give you updates. For those of you that are chewing me out because of my slow update rate, try talking to those that update about once every three years with a 800 word long Chapter and keep in mind that as a Simple Human, I am very capable of being extremely Spiteful. **

**So keep it up, keep pushing my Buttons and see what happens. Its one Big Button, just waiting for you. Come on, whats the worst that can Happen? Its round and Shiny and has a pretty white Skull painted on it. Don't it look Oh so Inviting? **

**With that out of the way, I shall wrap this up. I hope this has been a informing Message and answered some of your questions. For some of you who have PM'ed me and are not being rude, but have not received a answer, let it be known that for strange reasons unknown to me, My account rarely informs me of when I get a message. I Check my Email, and if it says I got a message on the site, I go read it and respond. If not, then I don't know and I don't respond and it gets misplaced as other messages pile up. So I am not ignoring you on purpose and I am extremely sorry if you have sent a message only to get nothing back.**

_**With All regards,**_

_**Nocturne No Kitsune.**_


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